Bistronomie

Is it possible to combine a bistro ambience with gastronomic cuisine? This was the challenge that Yves Camdeborde set himself when he opened La Régalade in Paris in 1992. In this restaurant with its low-key decor, the Béarnais chef offers tasty, popular dishes at bistro prices. A small revolution in the French gastronomic landscape! In 2004, Sébastien Demorand, journalist and food critic, baptised this fusion of styles "bistronomie".

Yves Camdeborde, who has run the Comptoir du Relais since 2005, gained his experience in the very best French restaurants, with the Ritz, the Tour d'Argent and the Hôtel de Crillon heading the list.

Like Claude Terrail (who opened La Rôtisserie du Beaujolais in the late 1980s), Guy Savoy (Les Bouquinistes), Joël Robuchon (L'Atelier), Yannick Alléno (Le Terroir Parisien at Palais Brongniart - picture above), Jacques Cagna (La Rôtisserie d'En Face) or Christian Constant, whose restaurant Les Cocottes serves only casserole-style dishes, Yves Camdeborde uses excellent local produce to create the great classics of French cuisine, eaten in a bistro-style setting. As the world leader in bistronomie, over the last few years Paris has been the stage for the opening of a host of new restaurants proposing this approach.

Deviled Eggs, pâtés en croûte, veal sweetbreads, roast rump of veal with potato puree, duck breast with roasted kohlrabi, breaded pig's trotters, creamy rice pudding... These new-style bistro menus showcase the use of simple ingredients of the highest quality, rendered sublime by the chefs' technical prowess and attention to detail. This is the very essence of this bistro-inspired gastronomy that proposes generous dishes at reasonable prices